Coffee farmer Vanthala Raju was 21 when he applied to get his rights over forest land recognised in 2014. It took two years for an official to acknowledge his application, four more for processing. Throughout this period, he faced harassment from authorities.

Changing climate has affected harvests, says Raju, an arts graduate who grows coffee on nine acres. Erratic rains and extreme rainfall events alongside increasing heat have increased work and reduced output and quality.

When it pours, the buds retain moisture and the resultant crop could rot. In cases of extreme rainfall, they just fall to the ground. Heat dries up the buds, and they wilt, turning useless.

Raju is not alone. Climate change is affecting coffee harvests across the world, leading to declining yields and quality, and rising prices.

A new analysis by Climate Central released on February 18 shows that 25 coffee-growing countries—accounting for about 97% of global coffee production—experienced more “coffee-harming heat” during the past five years because of climate change.

On average, India saw 30 additional days of such heat. Kerala saw 65 additional days, the highest increase. Andhra Pradesh (AP) saw fewer additional days (34), but had the highest overall days with temperatures above 30oC at 257.

The area suitable for coffee farming may decrease by 50% by 2050 without adequate adaptation, the analysis says. Arabica coffee plants (which account for about 60-70% of the global supply) are more sensitive to heat than robusta varieties. Even cooler temperatures in the 25-30°C (77-86°F) range are suboptimal for arabica growth.

IndiaSpend has reached out to the chairman and deputy director of research at India’s Coffee Board, and the director of research at the Central Coffee Research Institute in Chikkamagaluru for comment. We will update this story when we receive a response.

India is the sixth largest coffee exporter in the world. Kodagu or Coorg district, located in the Western Ghats in Karnataka, has been facing the impacts of climate change since the last three decades, as IndiaSpend reported in October 2023. The coffee plant has become more susceptible to pests and has witnessed a decline in production, we had reported.

World Bank data suggest that arabica and robusta prices have almost doubled from 2023 to 2025.

IndiaSpend met coffee farmers at varying levels of operations and socioeconomic conditions. While temperatures have impacted yield, those following natural farming practices are seeing better quality and output, and resilience to a pest that was recorded in the valley for the first time in 2025.

Coffee, pepper, and debt

Baram is a small hamlet of about 250 people, 75-km away from Araku—off the highway that connects Rajahmundry and Vizianagaram. Raju is clad in shorts and a polo. His chin is bandaged—he’s had a fracture from a fall in the bathroom.

Raju belongs to the Kodu community, a particularly vulnerable tribal group, and has lived in Baram all his life. He has two children—a son in residential school in grade VI, and a daughter in the primary school about 2 km away.

A three-room house with a low ceiling, his house is sparsely furnished—a single cot, a study table and one LED bulb in the living room, a few utensils and a cookstove in the kitchen. Adjacent to these is a storeroom, holding supplies, and produce yet unsold—he showed a bag of fresh pepper pods.

His wife applied to be a teacher, but did not get selected. Today, she is helping a neighbour pour concrete for a slab—an activity which draws help from many in the community.

Settling into a plastic chair in front of his house, the scent of drying turmeric wafting across the narrow lane between the row of houses and the forest, Raju narrates his experience with coffee.

Forty-three-year-old Vanthala Raju grows coffee on nine acres in Baram, under G. Madugula mandal of Alluri Sitharamaraju district. (Image courtesy Karthik Madhavapeddi)

This last harvest, Raju sold about three tonnes of coffee cherries to Naandi Foundation, two more tonnes to the AP Girijan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) and some rejected stock in the open market. Growing coffee is labour-intensive, and the community works on each other’s farms to reduce labour costs.

Apart from coffee, Raju also grows pepper, the vines of which climb up the shade trees. On his ancestral land, he grows turmeric, ginger, some vegetables and subsistence paddy.

He estimates that he made about Rs 3 lakh in this crop over four years. His family has incurred a debt of about Rs 3 lakh on children’s education and construction expenses.

On his plantation, Raju demonstrates how mulching is done to protect the moisture in the roots, how stems that have wilted or have not borne flowers are to be broken off, lest they consume the nutrients that the productive parts need. And how to identify flowers that will go on to the next stage and those that will wilt.

Unlike in most of the world where coffee is grown under the sun, in these parts, coffee is shade-grown. Primarily, the government distributed silver oak saplings because they grow fast and have a hard bark, on which pepper vines can climb.

Raju’s village eschewed silver oak. The elders believed that the species attracts more thunder and lightning. So they grow coffee under the share of natural forests and fruit trees.

Vanthala Raju demonstrates how stems that have wilted or have not borne flowers are to be broken off, lest they consume the nutrients that the productive parts need. (Image courtesy Karthik Madhavapeddi)

Now, the government is looking to add five types of trees to improve diversity, offer additional sources of income for the tribals, and keep them occupied on the farm throughout the year, so they also care for the coffee plants diligently.

Several organisations are involved in supporting Araku’s coffee growers, such as Walmart Foundation, Smart AP Foundation and Ayekart. Naandi Foundation has enlisted European companies to provide 17 varieties of trees, including fruit-bearing and timber trees, in exchange for carbon credits. The farmers sell fruit such as guava, lemon, and other citrus fruits in local markets. This has ensured they earn an income throughout the year.

Raju prides on the fact that they use completely organic methods and has not seen any pest in his farm or those of his neighbours.

Manoj Kumar is the founding chief executive officer of Naandi Foundation. He is leading projects in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh spanning the areas of healthcare, maternal mortality, child development and regenerative agriculture. The last of them is a technique perfected in the Araku region, on which Kumar spent 20 years helping small-holder farmers grow coffee.

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